US College Newspaper’s Apology Leads to Debate over News Reporting

Student leaders of the newspaper covering Northwestern University have faced two waves of criticism recently.

Readers were critical of the newspaper's reporting about protests at the university, just north of Chicago, Illinois. Opponents of former United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions organized the demonstrations¹ to protest his visit to Northwestern.

Student activists² criticized the paper for publishing photographs of demonstrators. The pictures showed the university's police force blocking protesters as they tried to get inside an event where Sessions was to speak.

Within days, editors at The Daily Northwestern decided³ to apologize. But the apology they published Monday led to criticism from reporters and journalists across the country.

The newspaper removed the photos from its website. The editors said they did not want students to be at risk of punishment by the school or online harassment⁴. But working journalists said the editors should not feel any guilt⁵ for following widely used reporting practices.

The written apology

The Daily Northwestern noted⁶ that its "goal is to document history and spread information." But it argued that "nothing is more important than ensuring that our fellow students feel safe ... and ... are benefiting from our coverage⁷ rather than being actively⁸ harmed by it."

"We failed to do that last week, and we could not be more sorry," the paper's editors wrote. The editors admitted that they removed a protester's name from a story about the event at the person's request. And, they said they were sorry for using an official student directory to contact people who demonstrated at the event and ask them questions.

Professional reporters criticized the students' actions as wrongheaded, inexperienced and a troubling sign for the future of journalism⁹. Others suggested that the students were right to consider the effects of questioning and taking pictures of the protesters but communicated that goal poorly.

Right to report on protests

By early this week, the student leaders of The Daily Northwestern were in shock. But the paper's editor-in-chief, Troy Closson, said he and the other journalists understand their right to report on protests. They just want to work with an understanding of other peoples' experiences and emotions.

Closson added that the editors did not plan to take back the apology. He said the message was directed toward the Northwestern community, especially non-white students who are in the minority at the school.

"There's a lot of students ... who feel we ... don't care about ... the student body that we're part of, but rather we're just there to extract a story and never talk to them again," Closson told The Associated Press. "That's the history and reputation we have."

The 21-year-old Closson, in his final year at Northwestern, is only the third black student to lead the newspaper since its establishment in 1881. He said he was the only black member of the team when he joined the paper in his first year. At the time, The Daily Northwestern lacked stories on students "who looked like me or had experiences like me," he added.

Closson said he and others leading the paper in recent years decided to change that. This included the creation of a team whose purpose was building diversity in its reporting.

Student journalists under attack

The Daily Northwestern operates independently from the university and its journalism school. Like other student journalists, its editors make careful decisions about how to cover their community and other students. The same goes for criticism of the newspaper's coverage.

The situation at Northwestern is the latest college-based criticism of traditional reporting methods during sometimes large and intense demonstrations at school events. These protests have often targeted former members of President Donald Trump's administration.

In October, student activists demanded an apology from another college newspaper, The Harvard Crimson¹⁰. They were displeased¹¹ with the paper for contacting U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement for a story on a campus protest against the agency. The newspaper argued it was the right decision.

Kenna Griffin, president of the College Media Association, said the Northwestern students should not have apologized. She would have urged them to put out a statement explaining how they produce stories, she said.

"We have an administration (in the White House) right now who feels that anytime they don't like something reported, they can label it untrue or fake," Griffin said. "This idea is being adopted by the public. So there's definitely a need for journalists at every level to explain how the information is gathered and the decisions they make."

By last Sunday, Closson said he and other editors felt they owed readers a fuller explanation of their decisions about the paper's reports on Sessions and the protests. He did not expected many people outside the campus community would read it.

Charles Whitaker heads the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. He called the written apology "heartfelt though not well-considered." He suggested it was in reaction to intense "public shaming" from student activists following the newspaper's coverage of Sessions' speech and the protests.

Whitaker wrote that the apology was a sign of their strong sense of community responsibility and the considerations they make for others. But he added that this should be a warning to all reporters. It suggests that they may no longer be able to independently cover the news if they feel forced to change how they do so because of public pressure.

He also defended the students against criticism from professional reporters.

"You are not living with them through this ... facing the ... hostility¹² that has been directed their way on ... social media," he wrote.

Words in This Story

editor(s) – n. a person whose job is to prepare something written to be published or used

journalist(s) – n.a person whose job centers on the activity of collecting, writing, and editing news stories for newspapers, magazines, television, or radio

harassment – n. the act of annoying or bothering someone in a constant or repeated way

practice(s) – n. something that is done often or regularly

benefit(ing) – v. to be helped

extract – v. to get something such as information from something

reputation – n. the common opinion that people have about someone or something

diversity – n. the state of having people who are different races or who have different cultures in a group or organization

label – v. to name or describe (someone or something) in a specified¹³ way

adopt(ed) – v. to begin to use or have a different manner, method

shaming – n. the act of forcing someone to act in a specified way by causing feelings of shame or guilt

1 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

2 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

5 guilt   

n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责

参考例句：

• She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

7 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

8 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

9 journalism   

n.新闻工作，报业

参考例句：

• He's a teacher but he does some journalism on the side.他是教师，可还兼职做一些新闻工作。
• He had an aptitude for journalism.他有从事新闻工作的才能。

10 crimson   

n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色

参考例句：

• She went crimson with embarrassment.她羞得满脸通红。
• Maple leaves have turned crimson.枫叶已经红了。

11 displeased   

a.不快的

参考例句：

• The old man was displeased and darted an angry look at me. 老人不高兴了，瞪了我一眼。
• He was displeased about the whole affair. 他对整个事情感到很不高兴。

12 hostility   

n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争

参考例句：

• There is open hostility between the two leaders.两位领导人表现出公开的敌意。
• His hostility to your plan is well known.他对你的计划所持的敌意是众所周知的。

13 specified   

adj.特定的

参考例句：

• The architect specified oak for the wood trim. 那位建筑师指定用橡木做木饰条。
• It is generated by some specified means. 这是由某些未加说明的方法产生的。